1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a sport ball, and more particularly to a sport ball for use in roller hockey or street hockey.
2. Description of the Related Art
The sport of roller hockey has grown considerably in recent years. Instead of being played on ice, roller hockey is played on a dry surface by players wearing roller skates. With the development and increase in popularity of in-line skates, roller hockey may now be played with the speed and excitement of ice hockey.
In-line skates permit roller hockey to be played not only on smooth indoor surfaces, but also enable roller hockey to be played outdoors on parking lots, basketball courts, streets, and other concrete or asphalt surfaces, thus giving rise to the term street hockey for this sport. The surfaces on which street hockey, or roller hockey, is played are not particularly smooth, typically having bumps and pits, and often having gravel and other debris scattered across the playing area. The irregular surfaces cause the puck to bounce and move erratically during play.
The puck used in roller hockey may be of a thickened disk shape such as commonly used for ice hockey, although usually of a different material and weight. To achieve gliding of the puck over the playing surface, it has been proposed to mount a number of spheres in the puck which extend out of the upper and lower surfaces of the puck and on which the puck rests for rolling movement. More commonly, however, the disk shaped puck is replaced by a ball in street hockey or roller hockey. When a ball is used as the puck on an irregular surface, the ball has a tendency to bounce, both as it moves across the playing surface and while it is being moved, or handled, by a player using a hockey stick. The light weight of a hollow ball results in wind having an effect on puck movement. Attempts to address this problem have resulted in different street hockey balls being made available with different densities and textures for different playing surfaces. Different balls are also produced for play in different temperatures.